Front Burner - Western Alienation, Part One: Now and Then

Episode Date: November 5, 2019

Today on Front Burner, the first installment of a two part series exploring the growing political anger in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Part one: deja vu. Jayme Poisson and political science professor Loleen Berdahl guide you through the history of western alienation. They explore how Trudeau senior, set the stage for the deep schisms Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is dealing with today.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. I would hate to see it separate, but I also feel that something has to be done. It goes much more than just the oil issue. This goes back for many, many years. Toying around with the idea of an Alberta separation, it's crazy to come to that point.

It almost seems like a joke for the longest time, but people are really serious about it now. Those are three Albertans. The first two voices were recorded in 1981, the last just a few weeks ago. And despite being separated by nearly 40 years, they sound so similar. They're talking about the same industries, oil and gas, and the same struggles with the federal government. And the men they blame, both then and now, share the same last name, Trudeau. You go in there and you're thinking your vote is just wasted.

I have never been ashamed to be a Canadian, but I am ashamed of Canada. I'm ashamed of Canadians right now. Personally, I'm not going to stop the fight. I took my Canada flag down this morning in my backyard. is right now. Personally, I'm not going to stop the fight. I took my Canada flag down this morning in my backyard. National unity or disunity is something we're talking a lot about after the election. The Liberals were shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The conservative premiers of those provinces are riding a wave of anger, sparked by bad economies and a lagging oil and gas industry. There are even Western separatist meetups happening in Alberta.

Today, the first of a two-part series on Western anger and alienation. Part one, the roots of Western alienation, why this is all so similar to what happened in the 1980s, and how it was quelled at that time. And then tomorrow, the one huge thing that's different, which has put Ottawa and the West on a collision course. Climate change. I'm Jamie Poisson. This is FrontBurner. The sentiment of Western frustration and Western alienation really goes back to the early days of Canada and right back to the national policy before Alberta and Saskatchewan were even provinces.

Loline Berdahl teaches political science at the University of Saskatchewan. She also used to live in Alberta. This growing anger we see in Alberta and Saskatchewan today, she's been studying it for a long time. At the time they became provinces, unlike the other provinces, they weren't given the rights to their natural resources from the Western perspective or from the Alberta and Saskatchewan perspective. This is sort of a narrative of right from the start, the Western provinces or the prairie provinces are being economically exploited. For 50 years, Herman Kober has been a rancher. He has witnessed the western rage over tariffs, freight rates, and wheat sales. If you have a government that is over a large area, you just can't operate efficiently.

A lot of all, they're 3,000 miles away. How do you expect them to know what I want or whether they even care what I want? And there's this great cartoon, right, from 1908, The Milch Cow? Yeah, the Milch Cow cartoon is a great cartoon of this giant cow that's sort of standing over Canada with its face over the prairies. sort of standing over Canada with its face over the prairies and farmers with pitchforks that are feeding hay to this cow. And you can see the sweat dripping off their brow. And then the udders are located right over Ontario and Quebec. And there's three men that look like little monopoly bankers with buckets under the udders. and they're gleefully milking the cow. And if you look closely at the buckets, one reads Toronto, one reads Ottawa, and one reads Montreal.

Yeah, and I'm looking at this cartoon right now. They really do look like monopoly bankers. Yeah, and it sort of speaks to the sense that existed and I think continues to exist, to the sense that existed and I think continues to exist and that is that the benefits of their labor are literally being milked by central Canada or what out here would be called eastern Canada.

This idea of western alienation is back on the upswing now. On Saturday in Edmonton, about 700 people gathered for a Wexit rally. Wexit, as in Western Exit. Alberta and Saskatchewan leaving Canada. Alberta! Alberta!

We are not, as Albertans, going to sit around and wait on the government to give us a welfare check. It's not happening. We're separating and that's what's going to happen. The Wexit Facebook group has about 250,000 members. And even though separatism is not representative of the whole population, there is certainly this sentiment that exists today that these Wexiters are tapping into. Peter Downing is one of the founders of the movement, and he's promoted a number of far-right talking points in the past. You're listening to Blue Sky on CBC Radio 1, 94.1 FM in Saskatoon.

We have over a trillion dollars of resources, potash mining, uranium, canola, agriculture, beef, Alberta obviously, and oil and gas, Saskatchewan. So we have all the resources, we hold all the cards, we have the best geopolitical position, and we're going to take advantage of it against Eastern Canadian political domination that is fundamentally interested in over-taxation, over-regulation, transferring the wealth from Western Canada to fund their social programs in Eastern Canada. And we've had enough. We're fighting for economic survival. It's not just a frustration with an industry slowdown and a government many in the West think isn't doing enough to turn that around.

There's also this feeling that Trudeau's climate change policies kick them when they're down. A carbon tax makes life more expensive for people who are already struggling. And climate actions undercut the very industry they depend on. So I was hoping a change to a conservative or some other government that wants jobs, wants oil, and the pipeline pushed through. But I just don't feel any hope with this government at all. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, they aren't necessarily talking about separatism, but they are using some very strong

language. We should not let Justin Trudeau and his policies make us feel unwelcome in our own country. According to my own emotional attachment, I'm not going to let Trudeau push me out of my country. There is frustration here in the Prairie Provinces. There is a fire burning here in the Prairie Provinces. What I am doing with handing the prime minister this opportunity is handing him a fire extinguisher and I'm asking him not to show up with a gas can. What is standing out to you? Who are they appealing to? Well, I think there's a lot of dissatisfaction and a lot of real populist anger in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It's longstanding, and it's relatively easy to mobilize. So they're appealing to people who feel that the economy is not going their way, and that feel that the federal government has to take some of the blame for that.

And of course, we've seen this anger flare up before. And of course, we've seen this anger flare up before. Yes, so this anger has flared up numerous times. So in the early 2000s, there was a flare up in the early 1990s when we saw the emergence of the Reform Party on a national stage. They often push for changes to the way we're governed, often to the annoyance of the government. We cannot go to the electorate and have a referendum every time that a member cannot make up his mind. We saw a flare-up of it in the early 80s with the National Energy Program. We saw a flare-up of it in the early 70s when Pierre Trudeau won his minority government without Western representation.

So we can see it sort of going back over time. There's this longstanding sense of populist anger. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin actually had a quotation I thought was quite apt. He described Western alienation as something that ebbs and flows but may never truly go away in Canada. And so it does have these ebbs and flows. And right now, I'd say it's... It's flowing very heavily. Let's talk about the 1980s and the National Energy Program, because it feels to me like this was a moment where it also flowed very heavily. Absolutely. it also flowed very heavily. Absolutely.

So a bit of background here. The 1950s and 60s saw the world flooded with cheap oil. So much so that people changed their lifestyles to use more of it. As Canadians, we are the biggest oil consumers in the world on a per-person basis. That's partly because of our weather, our distance, and our habits. But the cheap oil, it didn't last. Low supply and tension in the Middle East sent prices soaring in the 1970s. In 1970, the world price for oil was $1.80 a barrel.

By next month, the world price will be $20 a barrel. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government wanted to protect Canadians from the high prices and looming shortages. But Ottawa also wanted a much bigger share of the industry's wealth. And everybody must recognize that the place where you tax is on wealth and not on poverty. So in 1980, Trudeau's solution was, well, dramatic. The National Energy Program. It wasn't as tough a budget as many Canadians had been expecting, but it is likely to incense the oil companies and much of the West.

The program resurrects the long-standing, ambitious goal of eliminating all foreign oil imports by 1990 and reducing our total oil consumption by a huge 20%. Pierre Trudeau was really trying to secure energy resources for Canada as a whole. It was a way to add some revenue at the federal level. And he was also looking to shift some of the focus of energy development in Canada to the Canada lands. And this was something that was not seen positively in Alberta at all. But already tonight, Alberta officials were saying that confrontation is on.

My reaction is that it's even more objectionable than we thought it could be. The NEP put a new tax on oil to fund government ownership in the sector. It gave grants for drilling in the north where Ottawa had jurisdiction over resources, and it lowered the price of oil inside the country, keeping it affordable for Canadians at the expense of the industry. Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed was furious, and he moved to cut oil production in protest. You know, we as Albertans have always paid our way,

paid the full price of Confederation in terms of freight rates and tariffs, equalization payments by way of taxation. In addition to that, offered to contribute with regard to our resources. But we sure, certainly, are entitled to have a fair deal in terms of our resources, a fair arrangement. The Alberta Premier really saw this as a very large and dangerous move by the federal government into provincial jurisdiction, into Alberta's jurisdiction. He also saw it as essentially a

tax grab to benefit the rest of Canada, particularly eastern Canada. A lot like the milch cow cartoon, right? Exactly. And again, it goes back to that narrative of, you know, we've got the hardworking people on the prairies who are going to not get the benefits of their efforts. But already there are strong indications exploration is down. Oil rigs, 43 of them, have already made the trek south to find contracts in the United States. This rig doesn't have any work for the immediate future. We're exhausting all avenues of putting

it to work for another operator here in Canada first. But yes, there is a market south of the border. The way things are going, it would be tough. It would be really tough to try and fight Trump. I was wondering what you thought of the federal government's energy policy. You want me to give it to you in my own words or something? That sucks. Do you think that anger was fair back then? Like, had the NEP made things worse for Albertans, or were there other factors at play? Well, the world energy prices collapsed. And as much as Albertans love to attack federal policy, Canadian federal policy cannot collapse world energy prices.

The economic downturn in Alberta, the NEP really became a very convenient explanation for Albertans for what happened. You know, did it help? Absolutely not. People can debate for ages about, you know, the actual economic impact of the NEP. The larger sort of historical point is that from an Albertan perspective, and you hear this in Saskatchewan as well, the narrative is that the NEP at the very least contributed to, but usually the narrative is that it caused the collapse of the industry.

I've heard interviews from the time, people in Alberta talking about picking up a gun. If my voice is trembling, it's because I am terribly angry to the point where I would be happy to fight for our freedom. And I literally mean fight with a rifle. And this is the saying some people might have heard, let the eastern bastards freeze in the dark, right? Yes, that was a popular bumper sticker at the time, and it was just sort of a sense of, you're not helping us, so why should we help you? I know just from experience in my lifetime, sometimes when you see people talking about these issues,

they are physically shaking because they are so upset. Right. You know, you drive around and you see right now decals that are detailing that people have put on their trucks, usually trucks, that are very clear in visuals and in description that they are not happy with the federal government and with Trudeau in particular. I think it's just madness that Justin got elected for a second term. The stunts that Trudeau pulled last night, cutting off Scheer mid-speech, nothing's going to change as far as the elites go in eastern Canada, and Albertans are going to continue to get, you know, crapped on like the birds do to the cars.

The quote from Job is, what I have dreaded has come upon me. It feels like there are parallels between now and then. There's a number of parallels in terms of the economic focus, the fact that we have lack of representation in the federal liberal government from Western Canada, the fact that there's a Trudeau as prime minister. I mean, those are all very striking parallels.

They're ones that people like to raise. You know, every time we have a Trudeau, that's a bad thing for Western Canada. One thing I think that's very important in terms of difference is the temperament of Trudeau Sr. and Trudeau Jr., if I can call him that. With Pierre Trudeau, he had a very flippant attitude and very unsupportive attitude towards Western Canada. But if oil prices do increase more than we project, it's the individual Westerner who's hurt the most because you have the coldest winters, the longest distances to drive, and the largest farms.

So if protecting individual Westerners from excessive price increases is anti-Western, then I plead guilty. There's a very famous story of him leaving on a train and locally flipping the bird towards protesters. And so, you know, he did not seem to care. Justin Trudeau, on the other hand, he seems much more supportive and he's all hugs and nice comments. I have been very, very clear in telling Canadians from coast to coast to coast

that we need to recognize that Albertans and people in Saskatchewan have faced very difficult years over these past few years because of global commodity prices. The difference there is whether or not people believe the sincerity of what he's saying. And I think we've certainly seen a lot of skepticism over his sincerity that there are people in Alberta who believe that the pipeline was bought simply to shut it down. Yeah, there's questions about whether or not there's sincerity on the pipeline.

Also questions about, well, even if he is sincere, can he actually get it done? And, you know, is this going to be realized? So the West obviously didn't separate from Canada in the 1980s. And the anger did subside. Coming up in a minute, why did that anger die down? And could today's Trudeau learn some important lessons from the past? In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem.

Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Sir John A. Macdonald told this party, this political party, that if you want to form a progressive conservative or a conservative government, you must reconstruct the grand alliance of West and East. The Western fury over the oil industry and the national energy program, it actually took a change in government to die down. And I tell you, the 20 years of liberals and 15 years of Pierre Trudeau have scarred the soul of this nation, the dimension of civility that we once used to know. Conservative Brian Mulroney won a strong majority in 1984. He had dozens of MPs from the West, and he scrapped just about everything that was left of the NEP. And even then, some Western voters became skeptical of major parties altogether.

Western Canada should have an equal chance with the rest of Canada, especially Quebec and Ontario. There needs to be some redress in the balance of power, and I think with a new party like this that we could form the balance of power, and what's good for the West will be good for Canada. Those are members of the Reform Party, a political movement based on Western issues that sprang up in 1987. Who speaks for the West? Certainly not Broadbent Turner or Mulroney.

And eventually became the official opposition. This election, send Ottawa a message they'll never forget. Elect a reformer. This election, send Ottawa a message they'll never forget. Elect a reformer. So this anger that's been ebbing and flowing since Confederation, it's looked different at different political moments. The 80s took it all the way from rage against the National Energy Program to a new political party.

But there is one more huge regional beef that can't be overlooked, and that's Alberta and Saskatchewan versus Quebec. Many in the prairies believe that Quebec's issues get all of Ottawa's time, while the struggles going on in Alberta and Saskatchewan get ignored. And like so much of this story, the roots lie in the 70s and 80s and Pierre Trudeau's government. The world energy prices collapse. We see this real devastation in Alberta, and the federal government is not focused on that. The federal government is really more focused on Quebec separatism.

Maybe the Westerners should take a leaf out of the Quebec book and scream as much for more for the West, but then get into governments in Ottawa and scream for more at that level too, rather than always sit in the opposition benches. There's a long-standing sentiment of rivalry, really, with Quebec. This idea, well, Quebec has gotten all sorts of, essentially, favoritism and unequal treatment because they're threatening to separate. In 1967, Montreal asked for $150 million to help

pay for Expo. Prairie farmers asked for $200 million to help subsidize them. The East got their money. The West got turned down. In the early 1970s, the federal government spent $8 million on a Royal Commission on Bilingualism. The West asked for a study on Western alienation. The Royal Commission got the money, the West got turned down. And so the only way to get what you want in this country is to threaten to separate. And so there's that feeling that is often expressed. And then when we see these Western separatist movements, it's that sense of using it as a bit of a bargaining chip. This country's great, but we do have to get some power back.

And that's what the blackmail of separation comes in. The Quebec we see today seems to be less interested in separatism. But last month's election brought the West a new reminder of past frustrations. A strong Bloc Quebecois. Apart from the fact that I don't like our money to be invested in oil because it's the energy of the past and it is destroying the planet. I will let Western Canada do their own thing. The Bloc is talking more and more about the environment and fossil fuels.

And that's revived an old argument, that the West is paying Quebec's bills. Here's Jason Kenney. It's insulting to us that we have to subsidize provinces that choose not to develop their own resources with the resources that we develop. There's all sorts of ways in which equalization is unfair. But it's the entire $20 billion of net transfers out of this province. So equalization is a federal program that's meant to ensure all provinces can provide the same level of services. The feds redistribute money to do this.

Alberta doesn't get much, Quebec gets a lot. We have to be as effective as our friends are in Quebec. I will be absolutely clear with the federal government that if we do not get reform of equalization, if we do not get a coastal pipeline like Trans Mountain built, we will give Albertans an opportunity to trigger negotiations on a constitutional amendment to eliminate Section 36 of the Constitution Act, which is the principle of equalization. Essentially saying that his government is ready to hold a constitutional referendum. There are so many myths surrounding equalization, and political actors, including premiers, play into this, the sense that a provincial government is transferring funds from one province to another is alluded to, that's how it's understood. And it's certainly seen very much as, again, Alberta versus Quebec thing.

The sense that these monies are being transferred to Quebec. So anytime Quebec announces a social program or support, people say, well, there's our tax dollars at work. The most recent thing I saw on that front was Quebec made some announcement about waiving parking fees for hospitals. And I immediately saw on my social media feeds people saying, oh, well, Alberta's happy to pay for your parking, Quebec. And of course, that's not how it works, but that's how the narrative plays out. This anger we've been following from Confederation to now, it's been transforming, but it's never really gone away entirely. It's latched on to these huge symbols of eastern exploitation, starting with the milch cow, and then the NEP, and now

the Trans Mountain Pipeline and the carbon tax. When I say pipelines, you say no! Pipeline, no! And the issues that have stuck around, like equalization and Quebec, they're as heated as ever today. We cannot abide other parts of the country that benefit from our energy wealth, in turn trying to block its development and export. These east-west tensions have entered a new moment. It's not just energy policy that's divided the country. Justin Trudeau's liberals are committed to climate change action that more and more seems incompatible with the oil sands. I think there will always be a need for oil and gas in certain uses over the coming decades, if not the coming century.

But the mix we have towards more renewables, towards cleaner tech, and the efficiencies also will come in and transform those jobs. But as Loline tells me, the anger out there, it's as rooted in the past as ever. there. It's as rooted in the past as ever. What really has always struck me, being someone who researches Western Canada and who teaches Canadian politics in Western Canada, is how long these narratives last. And so when I teach Canadian politics here in Saskatchewan, I will always have someone pipe up in one of my classes and talk about how horrible the National Energy Program was. And if you keep in mind... People who have probably heard this at their Thanksgiving dinner tables, right? Well, exactly. You know, we're talking about people that were born in the late 1990s, early 2000s,

are talking about the evils of the National Energy Program. And when I asked them, well, what was that? Quite often, they don't even know that NEP stands for National Energy Program. They just know that the NEP was something that was done by a Trudeau, a liberal federal Trudeau, to hurt Western Canada. And this is the narrative. And anytime you have a dominant narrative, anything that seems to fit that narrative becomes very reinforcing. Okay. Loli and Berdahl, thank you so much for this really insightful conversation.

My pleasure. Okay, so tomorrow we're going to talk about what can be done about the sense of alienation and the challenges ahead for this Trudeau government. And we're going to focus on what I think is the really new part of this whole problem, action on climate change. One more thing before we go today. Yesterday, some big news from a mainstay of federal politics. Elizabeth May announced that she's stepping down from her longtime post as the leader of the Green Party of Canada.

May says she plans to stay on as a member of parliament and as the party's parliamentary caucus leader, and that she's happy to leave on her own terms. Too many politicians go out at the moment that everybody wants to kick them out the door. That's not happening here. And I like picking a moment when things are going well because I believe in this party. That's it for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner.

If you want to hear more about Elizabeth May, you can listen to our pre-election profile on her political career. You can find that in our feed. See you all tomorrow.